midway blems

[1fullmag]

I just recieved a box of blems from midway they were labled 250gr, .452 sst muzzle loader bullets. they are the same weight, length and, diameter as the 250 gr. bushmaster bullets. are they not the same bullet with a diffrent blue tip? has anyone tried using these in the 450?
I can try and figure out how to post a pic of it compaired to the ftx if anybody wants to see.

[Jim in Houston]

I found this posted on the guns and ammo site, http://archives.gunsandammo.com/content/shock-value.

Hornady's SSTs differ from other plastic-tipped rifle bullets in that they were designed from the ground up to be a big-game bullet, not a varmint pill. For starters, the copper jackets used on the SST bullets is .0010 thicker than the jackets used on Hornady's V-Max varmint bullets, and have a tighter grain structure. When the jacket cup is fully drawn, the jacket itself is 19 percent thicker, which aids in weight retention and assists in penetration. In addition, the lead core of the SST is a harder alloy, featuring a five-percent antimony content. These premium ingredients, combined with Hornady's Interlock construction helps hold the heavier and tougher jacket and core together until reaching the vitals on big game

This was a comment on a forum about the FTX.

These bullets look almost exact to a Hornady SST bullet. They are not. The SST'S have a hard plastic tip. The FTX have a soft plastic tip.

.

And this was on the Brownell site. It is not as detailed as the information on the SST with regard to jacket thickness, composition, etc.

The Hornady FTX bullets have the patented Flex Tip design rendering them safe in tubular magazines found on most lever action guns. The Flex Tip technology delivers excellent terminal performance and controlled expansion across a broad range of velocities. Upon impact, the soft tip compresses into the bullet, initiating immediate expansion that transfers energy to the target for quick kills. The famous Interlock feature, locks the core and jacket, eliminating core and jacket expansion. The Hornady FTX delivers the flattest trajectories

.

It sounds to me that the difference is in the terminal performance (expansion). I have loaded and shot a number of different blems from Midway with no problems. Some were 250 gr and some were 225. All had the red tip, but some were listed as being for muzzle loaders with a sabot in the description on Midway's site - all were .452, some of the 225 had cannelures, which the 250's do not. No problems.

[1fullmag]

yea I understand the written diffrence between the ftx and the sst I have been using both for a while but, after geeting these I got to looking at them and thinking the only diffrence between these and the ftx is the tip hardness.
these blems I just got have blue tips and they are harder but not as hard as the sst's that i use in 7mm or 270. so i'm think that there is not much diffrence between the two and, the 300gr sst version that i shoot in my omega would be yet another good choice for the 450bm with the extra weight it may help getting the charge of lil gun cooking a little better.

[Jim in Houston]

Yes, I picked up some 300 gr blems from Midway the last time they had them. They had sort of a translucent tip. Have not yet loaded or shot them.

[Hoot]

yea I understand the written diffrence between the ftx and the sst I have been using both for a while but, after geeting these I got to looking at them and thinking the only diffrence between these and the ftx is the tip hardness.
these blems I just got have blue tips and they are harder but not as hard as the sst's that i use in 7mm or 270. so i'm think that there is not much diffrence between the two and, the 300gr sst version that i shoot in my omega would be yet another good choice for the 450bm with the extra weight it may help getting the charge of lil gun cooking a little better.

Could they be Barnes ML bullets? Some of those have blue ballistic tips. Every Hornady FTX and SST blem I ever got had their classic red colored tip, regardless of hardness.

The thicker jacket should not be an issue since both of those product lines are designed to expand at modest velocities. In the case of close range shots, I wouldn't mind if the FTX's actually were a little thicker jacketed.

Hoot

[1fullmag]

Hoot
they are not barnes from what I can tell barnes blue tips have a little diffrent shape and I think a boat tail. Im gonna try and post a pic.

[Hoot]

Hoot
they are not barnes from what I can tell barnes blue tips have a little diffrent shape and I think a boat tail. Im gonna try and post a pic.

OK, they could be Hornady OEM'ing for a different company and as such wear a different color for that reason despite coming off the same manufacturing line as the FTX's.

Hoot

[1fullmag]

[img]
guess the bullets.

[1fullmag]

OK
the first one is 300gr sst-ml that I shoot in my omega, strangely it has a soft tip I just noticed. second is 250grblem from midway, third is 250gr ftx for bm, forth is 225gr ftx, fifth is 200gr ftx, last is 200grftx blem missing cannalure.

[Hoot]

OK
the first one is 300gr sst-ml that I shoot in my omega, strangely it has a soft tip I just noticed. second is 250grblem from midway, third is 250gr ftx for bm, forth is 225gr ftx, fifth is 200gr ftx, last is 200grftx blem missing cannalure.

Yeah, that's definitely an OEM for the 250 FTX. Whoever they were made for, didn't want their part to be identified as a Hornady part. Sierra and Nosler OEM also. Kinda cool looking.

Hoot